Just a Day in the Life
by ZeekeXIV
Summary: I, Raxiq, decide to write about some of my attempts to unite all Reploids against Humans. ...not as sinister as it sounds. I just need a summary that grabs you. Besides, my name has an "x" and a "q" in it. If that's not an attention-grabber, what is?


_We coulda been friends…_

I remember thinking that before I had to fight my first solo battle against a Maverick. Yeah, I know what you'rethinking now:

_A Hunter and a Maverick. Friends? Blasphemy!_

But then again... you might not be. Not if you don't know what a Maverick or a Hunter is. Before I go on, lemme give you a quick history lesson: myself and every other reploid in existence are humanoid machines that "demonstrate" free-will. I put "demonstrate" in quotes because that's how the United Earth Government a.k.a. UEG a.k.a. humans use to describe us. We don't demonstrate it. We _have _it. We think for ourselves and make our own decisions just like humans do, and I'm sure they wouldn't describe themselves as simply being able to "demonstrate" free-will.

So back to us reploids; at some point in our existence, a virus began taking over a good portion of us. It caused the infected to turn against humans. They banded together under the leadership of Sigma, an extremely powerful reploid who was infected. We call the infected reploids Mavericks. Of course, someone has to stop them. That someone is my crew: the Maverick Hunters, led by Mega Man X and Zero. We've been at it longer than I've been alive, and it doesn't seem like it'll let up. We're fierce enemies, and no Hunter in their right mind would ever consider a Maverick friend-material.

And here I am saying I could've been friends with one. Now that you've been enlightened, you must think I'm crazy. Yeah, I'd think so, too, if I didn't meet a Maverick that could've been my friend. This Maverick was different. In fact, this Maverick shouldn't have been a Maverick. Wondering how, right? _Now_,I can tell my story.

But before I start on _that_, lemme introduce myself. My name is Raxiq. From the name alone, you'd automatically think that I'm the coolest guy in the universe, right? I mean, how many guys do you know with an "x" _and _a "q" in their name? Well, you'd only be half right. I _was _the coolest guy in the universe, but not anymore. Bet you wanna know what caused my tragic downfall, huh? You're gonna have to wait until the end of the story to find out. If I told you right now, you wouldn't care. I wanna build a connection with you so that when it's finally time to let you know, the impact is strong enough to make you wanna cry for me.

Here's what I want you to know about me from the get-go: for the ladies, I'm tall, dark, and handsome, standing at six feet six inches. Perfect Raxiq height, I'd say, especially since six is my lucky number. My auburn hair isn't too long, but you'd never know that because I'm always wearing a navy blue helmet that has an antenna on the left side. It doesn't do anything; I just think it looks cool. Speaking of cool, I have a shaded visor built into the helmet that slides down over my dark blue eyes with just a voice command. Along with that helmet, I don blood red and navy blue armor, with the colors spread in such a way that I can't even describe it. You'd have to see it to understand; it looks too cool for words. In fact, it's _so_ cool, you'll probably catch frostbite standing near me. Yes, the air around me actually drops to subzero temperatures. I look _that _cool.

I'm serious.

Okay, no, I'm not… but I still look too cool for words.

It had been a little over two years since I joined the Hunters. I moved up the ranks pretty quickly, though… You'd think I was a veteran with four or five years my belt. It was a combination of my top-notch skills and my undeniable charm. _Everyone _loved me. The words, "I", "hate", and "Raxiq" just didn't go together, unless the word "don't" was thrown in somewhere. I was too cool to be hated.

Hell, I was so cool; I took down my first Maverick _by myself, before _I became a Hunter. Well… the Maverick was already heavily damaged by pro-Hunters… and he happened to run face-first into my prototype Photon Dispeller… and I "accidentally" pulled the trigger… I'd give you more details, but that, in itself, is a whole other story. Just know that after discovering my proficiency in kicking Maverick ass, I decided to become a Hunter.

So anyway, enough about me. Let's get this started. It begins a little before the first big battle of the Third Maverick War: The Battle of Baton Rouge. Just a word of warning: make sure your schedule is cleared because this is a pretty long story. I suggest you use the bathroom now.

___________

The Mavericks made themselves a new airship: the Death Rogumer II. The only way I could describe that thing is by saying if Death had a battleship form, that'd be it. You did _not _want to be on the receiving end of that thing's assault. Lucky us; we Hunters had to go toe-to-toe with it.

I was the leader of the Defense Unit at the time. We were on our airship: the Jameson. We could've come up with a better name than that… Anyway, we were just floating above Baton Rouge, on the lookout for potential enemies that wanted to get the party started early. It seemed like they were waiting for someone to bring the punch, first, so we ended up just standing around for hours, waiting for something to happen.

Around the 96th hour or so, something did happen. Gamma showed up. Gamma is actually one of the pro-Hunters I met during my first Maverick encounter. He was part of the 17th Unit, under X's command. He was also my mentor and my best friend. Gamma taught me everything I knew after becoming a Hunter. I'm sure he's also part of the reason why I moved up those ranks so fast, but he'd never tell me that.

I've told him this many times: he's so far from cool, he's like my polar opposite. He stands at a boring seven feet even, wearing boring, gray, full-body armor from head-to-toe with a ridiculous-looking metallic-gray propeller on the top of his gray helmet. He even has gray eyes and gray hair! I'm so glad his personality is a stark contrast to what his sickeningly dull attire suggests.

Just to underline how animated he is; he got that propeller installed on a dare a little before the war was declared. Whenever anyone asks, he justifies it by saying it's supposed to have a psychological effect on his enemies: they'd be too busy concentrating on that retarded propeller to fight him properly. And everyone replies with the same thing: "if I were the enemy, it'd make me wanna kill you faster."

Oh yeah, for those that don't know him on a casual level, he demands to be called "Gamma, the Gray". It's supposed to make him sound like a wise, old elder, he says. What an idiot…

"Rax, what's happenin'?" Gamma greeted me with his usual educated-urban accent.

"Literally nothing. I'm _critically_ bored…" I had to emphasize how bored I was by clenching my fist. "Things should get a little more interesting with you around, though."

"Funny you said that. Things are gonna get _a whole lot _more interestin'. For us, at least." Gamma sounded excited. Only two things got him excited: big-breasted women and any chance to cause destruction. The Defense Unit was a huge sausage-fest, so it could only be one thing…

"I knew there was a reason why you weren't with the 17th Unit right now."

"They're the ones who sent me up here. Zero's Shinobi Unit actually tried some espionage tactics and scored some useful info. The Mavs are feelin' pretty confident about winnin' this battle. Venom-class attack choppers dubbed Bee Bladers are the reason why. I took a wild guess at who's leadin' the assault."

"Blast Whore-net." I let out a long, aggravated groan. "Damn it… I hate bees…"

That's an understatement. I _loathe_ anything bee-related with a burning passion. I think they hate me just as much, if not more. One repeatedly stung me in the face once. I mean, I may have swung at it a few times, but that was only because it kept hovering around my iced tea like it wanted some. _No one _hovers around my iced tea…

"Here's your chance at revenge, my boy. What they want me to do is infiltrate the Rogumer, get into the Bee Blader hangar, and get 'creative'. And I'm feelin' pretty inspired, if you know what I mean." He nudged me, flashing his trademark toothy grin: he smiles by just touching his top and bottom canine teeth on the left side of his mouth together. Don't ask me why; I don't get it either. "What I want _you _to do is come with me. This is your big chance to jump another huge rank. If we do this right, you could be part of the 17th Unit! Think about it, man: Gamma, the Gray, and Raxiq, the Red, on the same unit."

"My armor is mostly blue…"

"Alliteration, my man. And think about it: we could be the most dynamic duo since X and Zero! Actually, screw that. We'll be _better _than X and Zero."

"I have no doubt about that. I think they're overrated. There's only one problem with this plan, though: I'd be leaving my post without authorization, _and _I'm a leader. How bad is that gonna look?"

"Think of it this way: if we get through this… nah, not 'if'… _when _we get through this, the scales will be ridiculously tipped in our favor. We'd be the reason the Hunters win the Battle of Baton Rouge!" I wanted to say something, but it was hard to argue against his enthusiasm. You should've seen the optimistic glint in his eyes. "All I see are positives, man. They'll overlook you goin' AWOL, trust me. I'll personally make sure of that."

I felt bad about leaving my unit just like that. Even if I wanted to say "no", I couldn't. This was the same guy that helped me get to where I was, at that time. Without him, I wouldn't even be standing on the Jameson. Besides the occasional minuscule favor, he never asked me for anything before this. So I decided to ignore my better judgment and hit him with this response:

"No. I _will not _trust you. You're gonna have to find someone else to go with you, Gamma. Sorry." I said that as blunt as possible. I didn't even _suggest_ that I was joking. I probably looked and sounded more serious than I ever did in my entire life.

The look of disappointment on this guy's face was phenomenal. I'm almost positive that if I told him if he'd die tomorrow, he wouldn't have looked nearly as miserable as he did right there.

With a soulfully defeated sigh, he managed to mutter, "…okay, Raxiq."

I remember thinking to myself: _Wow… He _never_ called me by my full name before; not even when I was a fresh recruit. It's always been Rax…_ I had no idea he'd take it _that _hard.

After thinking of that, I couldn't hold it back anymore. I just burst out laughing. I couldn't believe he fell for it. In fact, I _still _can't believe it! It's nice to know that after my fighting skills can serve me no further purpose, my acting skills can easily pick up the slack.

"I'm just kidding, Gamma! Yeah, I'll go with you!" I managed to say in between laughs. I could barely stand up because of how hard I was laughing. "Oh, man… You should've seen your face."

He could only give me one of his bitter glares through narrowed eyelids.

"Tell me again, Rax: why are we friends?" Gamma demanded.

"Because your life would be meaningless without me. You don't have to admit it right away, but the sooner you realize it, the better." I said as I patted him on the back. I can be a real bastard, sometimes.

"Whatever, man." He said with an annoyed eye-roll. "Those Bee Bladers aren't gonna blow themselves up. We gotta roll."

And roll, we did. But before we left, I had to make sure I left my Defense Unit in good hands. I told one of my best guys that he was the new leader until I came back. It went a little something like this:

"You're the new leader, VR." I said as I landed a heavy-handed slap on his back. And lemme tell you: I hit to hit. VR collapsed to one knee as me and Gamma walked by. "We'll be back."

With that, I jumped on Gamma's back and we flew off into the horizon. Yeah, Gamma can fly. I forgot to tell you that. That's the only thing he has over me when it comes to who's cooler; and that counts for a lot. I'd give up almost everything I have to be able to fly whenever I felt like it. …then I'd get everything back because in addition to my already-impressive arsenal, flight abilities would just make me _unstoppable_.

We reached the Rogumer quickly enough after leaving the Jameson. Before then, I only saw that ship on screen or in pictures. Neither of those do justice to how awe-striking that battleship is. There were cannons _everywhere_. I have to hand it to the Mavericks; if they want to intimidate, they'll do it times ten. That thing probably had its own ZIP code. I don't even understand how something so big can fly…

"Damnation…" Gamma was in just as much awe as I was.

"Where's the hangar?"

"It's supposed to be in the back, near the bottom of the ship."

"Okay, so do we bust right in, or do we take the scenic route and find our way into the hangar?"

"I'm cool with anythin'; just as long as I get to bring the ruckus." He had that smile on again. I could just tell he was gonna go insane. Gamma hates Mavericks almost as much as I hate bees. "In fact, I say we just bum-rush the hangar."

"No… I'd rather slip in unnoticed. You know your way around the ship?"

"I almost didn't download the map 'cause I was plannin' on goin' in all Rambo-like; takin' out anyone in my general area of perception. And I perceive there are a whole lotta Mavericks in there, just waitin' for me to kick their ass into oblivion."

"But they gave it to you anyway, huh?"

"They needed X, Zero, and Signas to hold me down long enough to complete the download. We can get to the hangar through the mess hall."

"Will it take long from there?"

"Depends on who they have on guard. If it's their Elite, it might take a little over a minute." Gamma is such a cocky bastard. In fact, he could be cockier than me, and that, my friends, takes _real_ skill.

"Overconfidence is the greatest enemy." I omnisciently recited. Yeah, I'm pretty deep.

"Shut up, Yoshimitsu." Gamma promptly replied. It seemed this "Yoshimitsu" character stole my words of wisdom. I still need to have a word with that guy.

We flew right near the mess hall windows, which happened to be around the top of the ship.

"This kinda sucks… We need to be at the bottom." I said.

"The mess hall is basically right above the hangar. We're gonna have to head down a few levels before we get there. But screw all of that for now. Here's our first challenge: those windows are translucent mirror steel. All plasma shots will bounce right off 'em, so we can't blast our way in. I know you wanna find a quiet way in, so think one up before I come up with an alternative. A _loud _alternative."

"You're still hell-bent on blowing things up, huh? Well, if it'll make you happy, we can quietly blast our way in." I assured Gamma.

"…how?" I knew he was befuddled by the concept of "quiet blasting", but if he just used his imagination, he'd see it's entirely possible.

"Just get close to one of the windows and hold steady."

As we neared the window, I saw a table of Mavericks sitting around, laughing to themselves and carrying on. They were probably talking about what they were gonna do after they won the battle since they were so confident about their Bee Bladers.

_That's right, guys. Just keep on laughing_, I thought to myself.

I then curved my right arm over my shoulder, like I was holding some type of bazooka. Right then, one of the Mavericks caught a glimpse of me. He did a double-take, obviously not knowing what to make of what he was seeing. The rest of his buddies took a look for themselves when they saw he was preoccupied with trying to understand how I could look so cool floating right outside their window, with my newly materialized Photon Dispeller resting on my shoulder. I waved to them just before I shot a photon ball through the window.

"Cover your eyes, Gamma." I warned, and then set it off.

They didn't even get a chance to gasp. Instantly, the metal was vaporized. The ball then dropped right in the middle of the hall and exploded in an amazing flash of ultraviolet brilliance. Blast radius, baby. One of the upgrades I added to it.

"Visor." I commanded, and my shades came down in a hurry to protect my precious eyes. I hoped Gamma heeded my warning. The light from that explosion could seriously compete with the sun.

When the blinding brightness finally faded, the room was completely clear. I managed to annihilate an entire mess hall of Mavericks with one move. _One move._ See why I moved up the ranks so fast? I mean, it may have been a bunch of lesser, no-name Mavericks, but I still cleared an entire room of them. How many people can say that?

After we flew into the vacant mess hall through the window I so kindly opened, Gamma just stared at me in astonishment. I could fully understand his awe. I never told anyone about my super-weapon.

"Rax… What the hell?!" He finally uttered.

"I've been working on that thing forever, even before I became a Hunter." I said as I dismissed my weapon and had my visors uncover my eyes. "I wasn't too creative with the name; it's just called the Photon Dispeller. At first, it was a like a light shotgun, then I turned it into a light-grenade launcher."

"Since when could you make weapons? I want a light shotgun!"

"There's a reason why I've been working on this thing for so long: trying to make light a deadly weapon is ridiculously hard! But once I get this thing perfect, I'll make enough for the 17th Unit. That's how I was planning on making my next move. I want to be the head of Weapon Development."

"You wanna be the man behind the destruction, huh? Well, when we finish this and you're on the 17th Unit, show 'em that photon thingy and they'll probably fund your research. Things'll only go up from there. You'll be the top-dog in no time."

"That'd be so great. Right now, I'm kinda going broke trying to perfect this thing by myself." Ha, "kinda"… More like "_SERIOUSLY_". Almost any type of money I made went right into my Photon Dispeller. "So we're here. Lead the way, boss."

The path we cut toward the hangar wasn't too difficult. The security felt kinda lax, but I guess that was because most of them were in the mess hall. And we all know what happened there. I'm sure the Mavericks still had other forces on the ship somewhere else. We were only covering a small section of a huge ship, after all.

We made it to the Bee Blader hangar in ten minutes. It woulda been less if Gamma didn't make that wrong turn. We ended up in the bathroom where a lot of Mavericks were, for some reason I never wanna know. Luckily, we never found out why because we dismantled everyone we saw and managed to flush them all down the toilets. That's actually what took most of our time: the flushing part. Of course, the bathroom got clogged up in the process. I wish I could see the plumber's reaction when he saw what he was pulling out of the drains.

I did start feeling a little suspicious after that little scuffle, though. How could we be on the Mavericks' top-of-the-line battleship and be allowed to move around so easily? Where were the big-name Mavericks? I wondered, but I kept my thoughts to myself. I still wanted to get outta there quickly, and having to deal with one of _those_ Mavs would definitely keep that from happening.

"Alright, this is it." Gamma reached for the switch that would open up the hangar doors.

"Wait a second. What are we gonna do when we get in there?"

"I was just gonna charge up the Gamma Gun and unload on everythin' I see, but your Photon-thing is so much better for this job. Just launch a few of those things around the room, and we'll be on our way."

"That'd be a good plan if it was tomorrow around this time. The Photon Dispeller takes a day to recharge its ammo."

"But you only shot it once."

"Yyyyyyyyep." I could only nod.

"You only have one shot for the entire day?!" Trying to make light a deadly weapon is _ridiculously _hard. "Damnit, man… Looks like the Gamma Gun's gonna get some play, then."

"I have a better idea. The Mavericks are still expecting their Bladers to be intact when they come to check on them, right?

"Yeah…" Gamma said, wondering exactly what I was getting at.

"So let's leave 'em like that." Gamma's face screwed up in protest, with him two seconds away from cursing me out. "I'm not done yet. Instead of absolute annihilation, let's limit it to simple sabotage." Alliteration is my best friend. "We'll mess around with the artillery system and short out the computer screen. The Bladers will still fly, but they'll have no radar and no weapons. Hopefully, they find out these problems after they take off, but even if they see it beforehand, we'll still have the jump on them. They'll be scrambling, trying to think of another plan while we'll be starting our assault."

Gamma nodded. "I like the plan, but that's gonna take a while."

"No, it won't. Just gimme a few to find out which wire does what, and I'll tell you what to do. We're fast and efficient reploids, right? It shouldn't take more than five minutes."

"Alright. Let's go!" Gamma finally slammed the switch loudly after his excited cry, and the hangar doors opened with a noisy, mechanical hum. So much for making a quiet entry…

Once the doors were wide enough for us to slip through, we jumped right in, only to stop dead in our tracks. Every plan has a flaw, and there were two immediate flaws with ours, right off the bat. First, there were _a lot _of Bee Bladers. It was like a hive in there. It was gonna take way more than five minutes to mess with all of them. It looked like we'd be using the absolute annihilation card, after all. But that other flaw definitely wouldn't stand by and let us.

This second flaw came in the form of two Mavericks. Two _big-name _Mavericks. Well, I knew one of them was a big-namer: Blast Hornet. I never saw the other one before. He had a really simple design: his body, from head to toe, was graphite black, with slightly darker-than-red streaks running vertically down his chest. He also had white eyes at first, but when he saw us, they turned as red as the streaks running down his body. _That can't be a good sign_, I remember thinking to myself.

And I was wondering where the serious Mavericks were… _Of course they'd be in the Bee Blader hangar!_ It only seemed to be those two, though.

"Well, well. Hunter scum. I didn't want any of you to see our new weapons until we went through with our sneak attack, but since you two are so eager, you can be the first casualties."

"That idea can go to Hell." Gamma wasted no time talking back. "We blazed through all your little cohorts without even breakin' a sweat. _You'll_ be no different, but I'll give your man on the side some credit. We might have to wipe our brows after we're done with him."

I expected the Maverick to at least blink when he was acknowledged, but he still had that glare… He definitely started to scare me. …a little.

Blast Hornet started talking again, but I tuned her out; mainly because Gamma started talking to me using our walkie-talkie feature. No, that's not the official name of it. I just keep forgetting what it was called; mostly because I don't use that feature very often. Usually, I just scream out what I need to say.

She's just talkin' blasphemy, so I know we won't miss anythin' pivotal. Gamma transmitted. It's divide-and-conquer time. Who do you want?

As much as I'd love to put my all into dissecting Blast Hornet piece-by-piece and reassembling her into my eternal punching bag, I'm gonna take the other guy. You take the bee since you can fly.

Makes all the sense in the world. Just be careful with your guy. I've seen him before, and he's _no joke_. He's 17th Unit material.

So am I.

Yeah, I know. Just watch yourself. Oh, and here's some incentive to help you win: a _lot _of the guys on our side have a huge grudge against him. They started their own unofficial bounty, and the price for killin' that guy is _out of control_. You'd have enough to finish your weapon and retire _in the same day_.

Well… I guess today's gonna be my last day as a Hunter. Oh, you gotta do me a favor: get one of Blast Hornet's antennas.

Time to replace that tired one on your helmet, right?

You know me too well, Gamma.

Can do. That'll be the first thing I do, right after I think of somethin' to say to christen the battle.

I understood. The battle wouldn't feel right if we just said nothing and started shooting. …but it _would _be cool to put an abrupt end to whatever the hell Blast Hornet was talking about. If there's anything I hate more than bees, it's bees that can talk.

Say something menacing, but cool.

He didn't say anything right away. We waited for Blast Hornet to finish her rant, then we just stared at the opposing two for a while, trying our hand at intimidation. Sadly, it wasn't working. Both of us, combined, couldn't look as menacing as that other guy. I'm pretty sure that damn propeller on Gamma's head wasn't helping, either.

Finally, the silence was broken by Blast Hornet, unsurprisingly. "So. Are you ready t--", she started to say, but never finished that statement.

"SHUT UP, BLAST BITCH!!" Gamma screamed and rocketed straight into her midsection.

That greatly disappointed me. I was expecting something cool and menacing; something that'd make me wanna give Gamma a high-five. That was childish and embarrassing. That made me wanna give Gamma five across the eye. It's things like that that cement the fact that Gamma will never be as cool as me.

As he and Blast Hornet flew around the hangar, exchanging various blows, I kept my focus on the other Maverick. He was still staring a hole through my forehead. I figured he wasn't going to make the first move, so I did. …the first verbal move, that is.

"Maverick…" I said. There was no malice or anything in my voice when I said it; I just said it to see if he'd respond.

"…Hunter." He replied.

_Progress_, I thought to myself.

His voice was exactly how I expected it to sound: pretty deep and rough-sounding, like it suggested he'd seen a lot in his days, and it all just made him stronger. _He's gonna be an ordeal when I actually start this fight_, I thought to myself.

One thing I didn't appreciate was him calling me "Hunter". I mean, I know that's what I am, and I know I called him "Maverick" first, but I can't stand being referred to by a title. I have a name for a reason. Besides, "Raxiq" is, at the very least, a million times cooler than "Hunter".

"I hate being referred to by a title. I know you only replied with that name because it suited the moment, so I'll let it slide. My name is Raxiq. Now you have no reason to ever call me that again."

He smirked, but with his eyes, which faded back to white. That put me at ease, a little. He wasn't as aggressive as I thought he'd be.

"I guess you feel I'm now obligated to tell you my name." He said to me with an invisible mouth.

"I only fight on a first-name basis."

He gave me a slow nod, then paused for a brief moment. I braced myself. Whatever moniker he was about to hit me with seemed like it would be heavy.

"Adonix."

The name echoed in my mind. _Damn it…_ _he has an "x" in his name, too_, I thought to myself. I remember being pissed off about that. Every little bit I learned about this character just bought me to the conclusion that this may very well be the biggest fight of my life.

I was then faced with two choices: start the ruckus and hope I edge out in the end, or delay the inevitable scrap and find out a little more about what I'm up against. I know physical advantages count for a lot in a fight for your life, but knowing your enemy on a psychological level can count for just as much. I opted for the latter choice.

But before I could even do that, I was faced with two other choices: stand there and let Blast Hornet and Gamma plow right through me, effectively ending my battle with Adonix before it even started, or get the hell outta the way.

What do you think I did?

Gamma and Blast Hornet were locked in a blind-flying grapple, punching each other in the face every now and then. Just when they were about to slam into me, I backrolled under them and saw a chance to throw my feet up into Blast Hornet's back. After doing so, the two were sent flying out of control, towards what looked like the hangar door leading to the open skies. Gamma suddenly regained control, and thinking fast, he pinned his shoulder to Blast Hornet's chest, picking up speed as he prepared to ram her into the heavy hangar hatch. That would've been a decisive blow; Gamma is a brolic individual.

But, of course, Adonix had to mess everything up. He shot some type of plasma bullet from his arm cannon (or buster, as we know 'em) at an emergency switch, which opened the door in a hurry and sent them both outside. Adonix then shot the switch again, closing the door and leaving us with a much quieter room. All I could do was curse silently because I just found out he had a buster while I didn't. The battle was just looking more and more difficult…

"You think pretty quickly. Anyone else would've just tried to dodge." Adonix nodded approvingly.

"I'm too cool for that." My ego is unstoppable. "You opening the hangar door was a good move, too. Not only did it save your girlfriend, but it also leaves us with no interruptions."

Adonix laughed a little, but it wasn't a laugh as much as it was a minimally amused "hmph".

I was at a stalemate again. I wanted to know more about this guy, but I didn't know what to say to him. What the hell do you say to a guy that looks like he might be able to crush you with just a thought? Luckily for me, he wanted to talk before we fought, too. When I think about it, though, maybe it was unlucky for me. He was all about the "know thy enemy" philosophy, too. You just couldn't get an advantage over him…

"I usually don't care for my enemy's backgrounds, but there's something about you that I like, Hunter." Adonix said. I had so much to say in response to that, but I let it go. I'd let my fists respond to that, later. "Tell me; why do you fight?"

That was a good question. A very good question, in fact. I asked myself that a few times. I came up with various reasons for fighting against the Mavericks. Each one was better than the last, and none of them were out of hatred.

"You want the stupid reason or the real reason?"

"Whichever one is more entertaining."

_Stupid reason, it is_, I thought to myself.

"I'm fighting because I'm too good at kicking Maverick ass to be doing anything else." Now that I think about it, that wasn't as funny as I thought it'd be.

"We'll see about that." Adonix nodded. "And just so you know, that reason was far from entertaining."

"Yeah, yeah… Shut up." I really did think it was funny back then. "So the real reason I fight, huh? Well, there are a lot of reasons: personal gain… for fun… because I look cool with a gun… I can't really pin it down to just one reason."

"Nonsense. Even the lowest-ranked Maverick can narrow down his reasons to one sole purpose."

I definitely didn't wanna be one-upped by some no-name Maverick. With my incredibly fast thinking process, I bulleted through all my reasons for becoming a Hunter: money, cooler duds, weapons, glory, girls, laughs, power, money, friends, Hunter benefits, raise my level of coolness, girls, reploid unity, first step in world domination, etcetera… All good reasons, but one stuck out in my head a lot more than the others. Take a guess which one it was. If you guessed world domination, you were close.

"Alright, I have a good one. I think you might like it." I began. "As crazy as it sounds, I want to unite Hunters and Mavericks to fight against our real enemy: the United Earth Government. If there's anything I hate more than bees, it's them. Well… I don't hate _them_, I just hate the way they operate. Their philosophies always left a bad taste in my mouth, _especially _that belief they have about reploids being nothing more than machines. I know I was created from man-made materials, but I'm not soulless. I can't explain what I feel inside, but I know I'm alive. There's no way I'm gonna let them tell me otherwise. Just because they came out a vagina doesn't give them the right to decide what's really living." I had to pause for a second after I found I was involuntarily raising my voice. I also felt my brain cloud with anger as I said all that. I always felt strongly about the UEG, but I never put my feelings into words until then.

"I know they're actively against you Mavericks, but I'm thinking 'what's to stop them from going against the Hunters?' We're reploids that can be affected by the Maverick virus, too. It'd only take one really influential guy to turn us into the enemy as well." I started up, again, considerably calmer. "I want to confront them before that happens, and the best way I see is if we all come together. There's already a problem with that plan, though: we all have a lot differences. I noticed that not all Mavericks are the same. Some of you are hell-bent on destroying the human race. Some of you are hell-bent on enslaving the human race. Neither one of those are part of my plan. I don't want a dead human. I don't want a subordinate human. I want an _equal _human. I want to make them understand that we're not going to replace them and we're not even trying to. To me, that's what it seems like they're afraid of: reploids replacing humans as the dominant form of life.

"So, to clearly state why I'm fighting: I'm fighting for the chance for all of us living on this Earth to be equal. Not literally equal, though; no one's ever gonna rival my coolness. I just want everyone to see eye-to-eye and do away with all this unnecessary hatred. Humans shouldn't hate reploids. Mavericks shouldn't hate Hunters. Hell, nothing should hate anything. Life's too precious to waste even one second on hating anything."

…except bees…

My rousing speech was met by Adonix's approving applause. _Wow… praise from Caesar_, I thought to myself. I wish I wrote all that down. Wait…

"Well said, Raxiq." He nodded. "I knew there was a reason why I liked you. Excellent words from start to finish. I can sympathize with you all too well: my reasons for fighting are very similar. You might even say they're the same. I believe that if we, on this Earth, could exist as one unit, we could accomplish more than we ever thought possible."

_Wow… We coulda been friends_, I thought to myself. (Ha-HA!! First mystery: SOLVED!!) _We have the same ideals, but we just _had_ to be on opposite sides of the spectrum. Damn it…_

"For as long as I can remember, I've been fighting. The reason for my fighting has always differed from battle to battle, but essentially, I was fighting so that someone else's dreams could be realized. Recently, I came to my own realization: I'm tired of it all. I'm exhausted from all these constant confrontations. For the first time, I considered my own dream: I want it all to stop. And as the old saying goes: 'if you want something done, you have to do it yourself'.

"Look at all that has been accomplished in Earth's lifetime. You mean to tell me that the same species that created a brand new form of life still can't settle its disputes without a violent conflict? You mean to tell me that we, as reploids, can't look back at these mistakes and learn from them, and that we must continue the fighting long after humans are extinct?

"We can't go on like this, Raxiq. The fighting will one day spiral out of control to the point where Earth's existence will be threatened. As I see it now, it's already happening: Humans are against reploids. Reploids are against humans. Even worse, both of us are facing internal strife within our own species. When will everyone realize all this fighting isn't helping us at all?"

"Tomorrow." I answered the rhetorical question. "Seriously, I know trying to unite the world is gonna take way more than a lifetime, and I have strong suspicion that I'm gonna live for a few centuries. Regardless, any baby-step I can take towards this goal will be a pivotal one."

"Might I suggest the first step?"

"Go ahead."

"Join me."

My heart skipped a beat when he suggested that. I definitely wasn't considering becoming a Maverick for _any _reason. Yes, including my righteous reason for fighting. Shut up, I'm not a hypocrite. I know it ultimately wouldn't matter what side I'm on while I'm trying to achieve my dream, but I just planned on doing everything as a Hunter.

"Whoa?" That was all I could think of saying.

"There's nothing complicated about my suggestion." Adonix replied. "We all must make sacrifices to achieve our goals. I may be a Maverick, but like you, I don't agree with our method of handling the humans. The only reason I'm staying with them is because there are more reploids within the force that think the same way as we do, and it would be foolish of us to openly oppose them by leaving. We'd gain a new enemy in the entire Maverick force; they wouldn't let us live after abandoning the force. What's more: we'd still have the UEG and the Hunters to worry about."

"Maybe not the Hunters…" I started. "If you all branch off and explain your cause, we could protect you from them."

"…while we're all rusting in a jail cell." He said. "We may not have actively participated in any counter-human operations, but we did consciously fight against the Hunters numerous times. I, myself, have made a fair-share of enemies, though I haven't personally fought those in your unit who hate me. They hate me because I've laid so many of their friends to waste, and they've sworn vengeance. Even if you were there to vouch for our cause, any confrontation we could have with the Hunters would only be negative."

I wanted to argue against that, but I'd only be able to do so much. I might've ranked high, but a lot of the Hunter veterans that have earned their ranks through years and years of service resented the fact that I held as much weight as they did in so little time. As a result, I'd have no power if I was to come to them with a group of former Mavericks claiming they've changed their ways. Heh, I actually wouldn't blame them. If I never met Adonix, I wouldn't believe it, myself.

"Damn it…" I sighed. I _knew _he'd make a great addition to the Hunter's, too. "I can't exactly leave the Hunters to become a Maverick and get away with it, either. Everyone knows me. I'm gonna be seen as a traitor if I do this. And then there's Gamma…"

Gamma would hate me for all of eternity if I went Maverick. Gamma hates Mavericks more than anyone I know, but he does a great job if holding back his anger. I'd be against his hatred, but he's more than justified: they killed his creator and the only reploid he actually loved. In fact, that hatred is the reason he became a Hunter. A little cliché, maybe, but lets see how you react if the same thing happened to you.

"I know you'd face similar hardships in leaving your unit, but you really have no choice. May I remind you that you _are _trespassing on a Maverick flagship?" I was actually kinda glad he did. We'd been talking for so long, I forgot I was on enemy territory. "It wouldn't be possible for you to leave with your life. Even if you were somehow able to get past me, which I honestly doubt, you'd still have many more foes ahead of you. Other Mavericks know of your infiltration, and they will see to it that you are destroyed."

_What the hell did I get myself into_, I wondered. I was screwed in every conceivable way. While I was confident that I could get by one super-Mav, these fights for your life take a whole lot out of you. There'd be no way I'd be able to take on another one. That didn't stop me from hoping I'd get lucky, though.

"I'm not just gonna voluntarily become a Maverick." I said, summoning a Terraforce Magnitude Gun from my top-secret arsenal. It's one of my favorite weapons; gravity-based, too.

"Raxiq…" Adonix sighed with genuine disappointment. "I'm letting you know right now: I _am _going to win and you _will _become a Maverick. I won't be able to kill you because I'd feel as if I was killing myself, and I'm very anti-suicide."

"You better start embracing it in a hurry, then." I said with a bad-ass growl. "The only way I'll lose is if you kill me, and that's something _no one _will ever be able to do."

"If I wanted you dead, it would've been when we first made eye contact." He promptly replied. If I had a quarter for every time I heard that, I'd have… one quarter… Damn it!

His eyes started to glow that scary red, again. I guessed that meant he was in combat mode. I also guessed that was my cue to begin the battle for my freedom.

"Visors." I commanded. Not only do my visors make me look too cool for life, but they also have an auto-targeting system built in to it. No one can ever escape my all-seeing eyes.

Here's another cool thing about my helmet: it plays music! I have all my favorite songs programmed to play with just a thought, and I decided this battle called for something special. I had it play Boss Battle Crisis from _Skies of Arcadia_. Great game, greater music.

As the trumpets blared in my ears, I locked on to Adonix and fired a screaming gravity blow at his chest. He jumped to the left, out of harm's way. I thought it wouldn't be a complete loss, though. The Bee Blader behind him would feel the full brunt of my attack. I was shocked, though, when that powerful blast barely left a dent in its hull. I guessed it wasn't susceptible to gravity attacks.

Adonix replied to my attack with an explosion of energy, sending out a powerful, black aura in a three-hundred and sixty degree radius. I was in no way ready for an attack like that so early in the battle, and I got blown backwards into the side of a blader.

I slowly rose to my feet. Already, this fight was ridiculous. It was barely half a minute and I was already struggling to rise to my feet. I glanced up to Adonix, who was just landing from his attack.

"Thanks for destroying some of the Bee Bladers for me." I said, graciously. That blast radius cleared out a lot of the choppers me and Gamma were supposed to destroy, leaving us with some type of makeshift arena to face-off in.

Saying nothing, Adonix's chest stripes started glowing a bright red. Suddenly, a huge burst of plasma exploded from his buster with no other intention than to ruin my day. But I wasn't having that. No plasma shot ruins my day.

I cocked back my Magni-Gun and blasted the threatening plasma back at its origin, immediately kicking up dust with the speed thrusters at the bottom of my boots and rocketing after it.

Adonix was a fast-thinking bastard. Anyone else would've been too stunned to react, but he predicted I'd have a counter attack and dashed to the side. Not before the charged plasma grazed his oblivion-black armor, though. That was a big morale booster for me: it proved he wasn't untouchable.

My visor's tracker followed him as he tried to boost away from me, but I kept my speed up, tailing his every move. With another blast from my Magni-Gun, I finally managed to catch him. The blow hit him square in the back, bulleting him towards the strong hull of another Bee Blader. I didn't want to give him a chance to breathe, so I balled up my fist while still dashing toward him. I was gonna introduce him to my Rocket Punch. Shut up, I like that name.

Again, he seemed to be a step ahead of me. With some ninja-like agility, he planted his hands and his feet on the blader, leaving his imprint on it, and backflipping off the side before my fist could touch him. He did all that in less than two seconds. _Damn it…_ I thought to myself as I followed Adonix flying through the air.

I followed his flight up until he was right above me. If this was an old-school, 21st century movie, this would be the time where everything slowed down to a crawl. He bought up his buster and held it steady with his left hand, aiming it at my face. I was expecting another charged blast of plasma, so I raised up my Terraforce and pointed it right at his buster, ready to jam his cannon the instant he emptied the barrel.

A shot was fired. Or actually, multiple shots. As soon as he fired, so did I. I caught his buster beautifully; he jerked his arm back as his weapon shorted out. I didn't have the last laugh, though. He didn't send out that charged shot I was predicting; before I got him, he sprayed a surprise five-round burst of those same plasma bullets he shot at that emergency switch. Two of them hit my helmet while the other three fried my Magnitude Gun.

As I sent my busted weapon away, I waited for my tracker to pick up Adonix again. Suddenly, I felt a cheap shot to my back, in the form of a sharp kick. My body jerked forward as I tumbled to the floor, sliding away from where I was formerly standing. When I finally skidded to a stop, I quickly looked back. Adonix was standing right there with an angry glint in his eyes as he held his broken buster, almost cradling it. My tracker didn't know that I was staring at him, though. Right there, I realized those shots to the head broke my targeting system. Not only that, but I noticed my antenna by Adonix's feet. _That _pissed me off.

"Not only did you take out my Terraforce Magnitude Gun _and_ my helmet's auto-targeting system; you broke my antenna! You'll pay for that!" I always wanted to shout that in rage. As I retracted my visors, I could only be thankful that the music was still playing. I'd hate to think of what I'd do to him if he broke that, too.

Still not amused, Adonix held out his right arm, letting his hand replace his busted buster. In that hand, though, he held a new weapon. With the push of a button, a beam jumped out, assuming the shape of a blade. _A beam saber…_ I realized. _Why does everyone have these things?_

I was gonna summon my own plasma-based gun at first, but I opted for my other favorite weapon, instead: the Cool Fists. It's actually a weapon set that includes electricity-based gauntlets and greaves. They also spark a cool blue every now and then. I could see the grin in Adonix's eyes as he raised his sword to attack position. I know he appreciated the gesture; it seemed like I complied with his silent request for a close-quarters battle. I wasn't trying to be nice, though. I was literally gonna kick his ass because he broke my antenna!

After I raised my fists, we stood off for a moment. My heart tank skipped a beat as the music playing in my head suddenly took a grim turn for the worst; that was the part of the song that played when your party was losing the battle. A bad sign? It just might've been because Adonix saw me flinch oh-so slightly and took that opportunity to throw his own leg boosters into overdrive, dashing at me with incredible speed. I didn't waste any time either; as soon as he moved, I moved, rocketing at him with equal speed. I felt my fist tingle as I reared it back, getting ready to knock him out of his armor.

Right when we were within prime attacking range, we both swung. My fist met his sword with amazing force, emitting a deafening crack. You'd think we'd both jump back from the impact, but no. Hell no, if fact. We both tried out damnedest to close in on each other and unleash that brutal ten-hit combo. We only managed to keep hitting our weapons together. I had to admit: Adonix was an amazing fighter. I should've been the faster fighter since I was basically only using my hands, but my opponent never missed a beat, almost effortlessly able to keep up with my lightning-fast fists of fury.

After Adonix ducked under my powerful right hook, I decided to let my feet in on the action. After I missed the blow, I used the left over momentum to spin low and attempt a sweep. Success! I took his legs out from under him and left him to land sloppily on his hip. With that, I bought my leg up only to bring it back down again to deal a vicious heel drop to his chest. Adonix wasn't having that, though. With a quick roll backwards, he avoided my heel's landing zone and ended up back on his two feet while my heel dented the floor under it. It takes a little while to recover from a heel drop attempt that powerful, so I was basically helpless as Adonix jumped at me, looking like he was about to bury his sword in my dome.

I finally recovered just enough from that heel drop to dodge to the side, letting the beam skim by my head. I could feel the heat from the blade; it made me sweat just a little bit more. I was really glad that it missed my head, but I got _really_ upset when it found a place in my left shoulder. I wanted to scream as loud as I could, but I held it in. Instead, I took the power I would've used for screaming and put it into an almighty palm strike with my right hand, pounding Adonix where his diaphragm would be. He was blown away, subsequently ripping the beam sword out of my shoulder as he flew back.

I took that brief moment to check out my wound. It wasn't _that _bad. It only managed to break through my armor and burn away some of my synthetic skin, exposing some circuitry. I also checked my gauntlets. They were starting to deform, probably because I was kept hitting them against that beam saber. _I should avoid that blade_, I decided.

I glanced at Adonix, who was finally rising to his feet after slamming his back hard against a Bee Blader and landing on his face. He glared at me with venomous rage as he gripped his saber tightly with both hands. I saw why he was so angry: there was a huge spot of missing armor where my palm struck. The skin that was exposed was badly bruised and probably internally bleeding coolant and hydraulics. Fitting punishment for breaking my antenna. Oh yes, I'm a bitter individual.

Once again, the music playing in my helmet took another change, but this time, for the better. It was the part of the song where your party's guaranteed victory! _Damn right_, I thought to myself as I bought my fists up for one final round. With a cocky smile on my face, I motioned for Adonix to come at me with everything he had. He didn't have to be told twice. The streaks on his chest started glowing again. That kinda worried me; I thought he only did that when he was charging his buster. Suddenly, another beam grew out from the bottom of his saber's handle. My heart sunk like the Titanic II. I decide it's best to avoid his blade, and he suddenly reveals he has a double-sided saber. _What a bastard_, I thought to myself.

Continuing to amaze me with his acrobatics, Adonix came at me with a wild aerial somersault and his saber fully extended. Remembering my own limited gymnast abilities (yeah, I'll admit it, I'm not good at _everything_), I backflipped out of the way. Before I could even fully stand up straight, Adonix was on me, slashing at my abdomen. I gotta admit it: he landed some great hits. Not only did he get my sexy abs, but he slashed my arms, my legs, and my chest. My armor was strong, but it couldn't stand up to his double-sided saber, letting my syntheskin get cut up to the point where I was slowly "bleeding". I wasn't mad about that, but I was furious about him destroying my armor. He was ruining the coolest armor on Earth! I had to get him back for that.

After leaning left to avoid another stab to my arm, I saw my golden opportunity to land a roundhouse kick right where his armor was missing. _Revenge is so sweet_, I thought to myself as I buried my shin right into his chest. He stumbled away; his eyes squinted in unbearable pain, as I deemed that time the perfect moment to bust out my special move. I dove forward to perform a handspring off the floor, doing an upside-down split as I began spinning like a helicopter towards my stunned rival.

"SPINNING BIRD KICK!!" I announced as I buried Adonix in an inescapable five-hit combo. Hey, if X can do a Dragon Punch _and _a Hadoken, then I can do a Spinning Bird Kick.

After I finished the move, I hopped back onto my feet just in time to see his blade flying behind him. I figured I must've knocked it out of his hand, which was _great _news: he was defenseless. Not only was he defenseless, he was leaning against a Bee Blader, seemingly dazed from the attack. _It's time for the finisher_, I decided.

I clenched my fists as I threw my head back in a power-up position. I felt a sudden rush from the new energy coursing through my veins. This was my equivalent of human adrenaline. I could use as much as I wanted, but the only problem was that the more I use, the more quickly I'd get exhausted. _Life-threateningly _exhausted. Since I love life too much, I don't use it too often, plus, it's just excessive. I'm already a force to be reckoned with. Why add fire to the flames?

With a huge speed boost, I charged at an exhausted Adonix with my leg extended. My foot crashed into his stomach with incredible force, causing him to somehow cough up hydraulic fluid on my leg. I didn't care about how disgusting or illogical that was; I was about to win a battle I thought I was gonna lose.

"Ready for this?" I asked, not expecting an answer as I kept my leg propped against his stomach.

My greaves started violently sparking an electric blue. I backed up about a half an inch and then let the hydraulic pumps in my legs take over, trapping a helpless Adonix in a near-endless fit of blazing-fast, pump-thrusting kicks. It was my variation of Ziggy's Cyber Kick from _Xenosaga Episode I_. …I used to play a lot of video games before I became a Hunter.

After the last kick from my hundred-hit combo, I lowered my foot to let Adonix come face-to-face with my flashing-blue greave. This last hit would let loose a blast of electric energy that would be enough to put any reploid into a coma. I just charged it up enough so that it would temporarily knock my opponent out. I was more than capable of it, but it was never my plan to land any crippling injuries on Adonix. I just wanted to get him out of the way so I could escape.

Finally, I felt I charged up enough and emptied the energy out of my greave. There's just one thing I gotta say about Adonix: he _always _managed to surprise me. In the blink of an eye, he grabbed my foot and threw it up, causing me to fall on my back while uncontrollably shooting electricity everywhere. I think I literally shocked myself a bit because when I finally rose to my feet, I noticed myself involuntarily twitching. Needless to say, I felt like an idiot.

I found Adonix boosting toward me with some newfound energy. I was in no shape to defend against any attack he had, so I just braced myself for whatever was coming. He closed in and wrapped his arms around me to finish me with… a loving embrace?

I was expecting another explosion of energy like he did in the beginning of the fight, but I just found myself still in his arms. I was also surprised to find his streaks flashing blue this time. _What the hell is this_, I frantically wondered as I finally tried to break the hold. I definitely didn't want this guy to get the wrong idea. I love women and _only _women. Okay, that's not entirely true. The only man I can love is myself.

I managed to free an arm and bury two solid elbow shots somewhere around Adonix's neck and shoulder. As his grip loosened, I had enough room and leverage to push him back and send a screaming uppercut to his chin. He flew up, but with the finesse of a gymnast as he voluntarily backflipped away from me. I followed his decent until he finally landed on the ground again, standing up straight after a crouching touchdown.

Right then, I noticed something different about him. Or actually… I noticed something _familiar _about him. His armor donned a new look that reminded me of someone I knew very well. Someone I knew like the back of my hand… Someone like… me…

Alright, I'll kill the suspense. Save for the head and that hole in the armor over his diaphragm, his armor looked _exactly _like mine. I couldn't even think of anything clever to say. _How the hell did he do that_, was all I could think.

He then curved his arm over his shoulder like he was holding a bazooka. _You gotta be kidding me_, I thought to myself as I recognized the motion. He was far from kidding; he had just summoned _my _ultimate weapon: the Photon Dispeller. Before I drowned myself in disbelief, I tried one more round of optimism.

_The joke's on him_, I thought to myself._ There's only one Photon Dispeller in the world, and I used up all it's ammo for the day._ Keeping an unintimidated smirk on my face, I let out a little laugh.

"Good luck shooting me with no ammo." I taunted as I was about to summon my Plasma Rifle.

But I never got a chance to as I watched a photon ball leave the dispeller's barrel. My smile vanished and my pupils dilated in pure terror. Once again, everything felt like it fell into slow motion. Quickly assessing my situation, I came to the conclusion that I was screwed worst than ever before. The only thing I could do to even _attempt _to avoid the blast was to try jumping to the ceiling. I looked up. _Should be high enough_, I quickly determined and leaped for my life, as high as I could.

All I can say is that my evasion attempt was in vain. _Extreme vain_. I didn't even make it halfway on my own. The photon ball landed right where I once stood, exploding with the same extravagant force I designed it to explode with and boosting me the rest of the way toward the ceiling of the Bee Blader hangar. Luckily, I got caught in the weaker area of the blast radius, so it only blew off my armor and burned the skin off my back. Even after all that, I _still _didn't touch the ceiling. I stopped just short and began my plummet back down to the floor, later landing painfully and slamming my head onto the cold, steel hangar floor. Luckily, my helmet was still intact to cushion the impact. It's true, people: helmets really do save lives.

I stared at Adonix as he sent away my Photon Dispeller and reverted back to his original armor with white eyes. Suddenly, I understood why he gained my abilities. I guess my shock blocked out my powers of deductive reasoning, but I could think quite clearly before I fell into unconsciousness. _He can temporarily copy reploid abilities_, I realized a little too late. _With that questionable hug, he took my ability to summon any weapon I needed from my arsenal. That still doesn't explain why my Photon Dispeller was fully charged…_ I didn't get enough time to think about that because my vision turned to static and my mind fell into hibernation.

___________

I think I can stop there. I don't have to tell you that after I lost the battle, I was forced to become a Maverick.

Wait… I just did… Meh, whatever.

They wanted to infect me with the Maverick virus in order to guarantee my loyalty, but Adonix assured them that I'd be "an exceptional and dedicated soldier" as long as I was under "his watchful and influential eye". They went with it. Adonix held a whole lot of weight, it seemed.

So there's the solution to the other mystery of this story: I'm no longer the coolest guy in the universe because I was forced to betray my Hunter brethren and become what we were fighting against. Betrayal is far from cool.

After I was fully repaired from the battle, I fell into depression. I felt like a failure, and worst off, a traitor. All I could think about was what would've been if I never left my post. And then, with that depression, I felt anger. Anger towards the one who got me into this mess… Yep. My former best friend, Gamma. He may have gotten me to where I was before, but that didn't mean he knew better. From that day on, I swore I'd get revenge on him. This was all his fault. I expected a good battle for when that day finally came. He wouldn't have a problem fighting against me since I was now a Maverick.

… …

Okay, that entire last paragraph was a joke. No, I'm not mad at Gamma, and I don't regret the decision I made. What I did swear after my repairs, though, was that I would set things right and somedayreturn to the Hunters to pursue my dream of unity. I also made a new promise to myself: I vowed to get Adonix out of the Mavericks and into the Hunters. Yes, I know I'm out of my mind but I truly believed that Adonix was on the wrong side.

…I wanna end this tale now, but it doesn't feel right leaving it like this. I wanna leave you with something special. I like you, even though I don't know who you are.

I think I'll leave you with my first few moments awake as a Maverick.

___________

"…and when will he regain consciousness?" I recognized Adonix's voice, though I didn't recognize that touch of concern in it.

"Well, from what you told us, he got his ass kicked pretty hard. He should've been up since last night." I had no idea who he was talking to. That voice sounded kinda concerned, too. I guess he was looking forward to having me as a fellow Maverick. "Should we bring him back to the infirmary?"

"No. Just leave him here. He must be more exhausted than we though. I'll assume when he's ready, he'll awaken."

"Alrighty. Don't forget to let us know when he's up. We still want to throw that welcoming party for him."

"If it's anything like what you did for Chakra, I doubt you'll accomplish much. Don't underestimate him. Raxiq is _much _stronger."

"It doesn't matter how strong he is. There's no way he'll be able to take us all on at the same time."

It seemed I'd have a challenge as soon as I wake up. At least I didn't have to worry about getting rusty…

I heard a metallic door slide down and land with a "doonk", signifying it was closed. _The other Mav must've left_, I guessed. I also heard the sound of an operating armor capsule. _I didn't know the Mavericks had those, too_, I thought to myself. I heard soft footsteps which gradually got louder as they came closer. When they came to a stop, I felt a presence watching over me. I decided that was the best time to open my eyes. Just as I lifted my eyelids, I heard the footsteps walking away. Even without someone there to witness my resurrection, I woke up anyway, just to try to figure out where I was.

The first thing I noticed was that it was dark. Just one lone light kept the room from being pitch black. I caught a glance at a window. Looking outside, I saw that it was nighttime. I decided to sit up, but I tried to be as quiet as possible. I felt kind of woozy sitting up, but I could live with it. I figured it must've been a long time since I was last vertical. I noticed I wasn't wearing much clothes: just a skin-tight body suit. My skin also felt tight, especially on my back. _It's gonna take a while to get used to my new syntheskin_, I thought to myself. I felt a soft brush against my shoulders. I reached up to them only to find out it was my hair. _Whoa… I need to get a haircut._ I hate long hair on guys, especially myself. It was nice to see my body build hadn't changed in one bit, though. I could still cause the ladies to swoon if I walked on a beach wearing a Speedo. I never would, though. I hateSpeedos almost as much as I hate bees.

After checking myself out, I noticed the other person in the room with me, standing in front of a half-length mirror over an old-fashioned dresser. That kinda surprised me. I hadn't seen one of those in a long time.

"Adonix?" I called out with my voice kinda quiet and weak. I wasn't too sure it was him because he had his back toward me, and I never saw him outside of his armor, let alone in a tight-fitting black jumpsuit, similar to what I was wearing. I guessed that was the style for Mavs out of armor.

The back of his head was covered in short, black hair, matted down probably from wearing a helmet for so long. The skin on the back of his neck was a healthy peachy-crème complexion. I figured he just took good care of his skin.

"You're awake." He replied.

His voice wasn't how I remembered it, though. No longer did it have that badass tone. It took me by surprise; I almost didn't believe it. The voice I heard was kinda mid-ranged, a little on the deep side, but it also had… a feminine quality to it. An _unmistakably_ feminine quality to it…

Finally, she turned around. Yes, you read right. _She _turned around. That's right, _he _was a _she_. Adonix was a woman… Saying I was in shock is a severe understatement. The name didn't go with the body at all… She was too pretty for such a powerfully masculine name. Those rich red eyes, that perfectly sculpted body, those… umm… well… I don't wanna be vulgar, so I'm just gonna say it _definitely_ wasn't a bad thing that she had such a healthy bust…

But before I could even think about breathing another word, I realized something… I was beaten by a girl… _Son of a…_ I thought to myself, but stopped in mid-mind-sentence as she walked towards me.

___________

_Now_, I'm ending the story. I'm leaving it like this so I have somewhere to pick up from for the next time I write. This isn't the last you've heard from Raxiq!

So like I said, I'll be back. Until then, take it easy.


End file.
